Automatic digital music library builder

ABSTRACT

A digital music library builder including an analog-to-digital converter for converting analog audio into digital audio, an optical character processor for recognizing characters within an image, a meta-data extractor for identifying meta-data for a song within the recognized characters, an audio parser for marking the start and end of a song within the digital audio, and a database manager for associating the identified meta-data with the marked song, within a digital music library. A method is also described and claimed.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to automatic generation of digital musiclibraries, such as MP3 libraries.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Digital music players are proliferating as standalone consumerelectronic devices, such as MP3 players, as bundled components withinportable devices such as personal data assistants (PDAs) andcell-phones, and as home network appliances. Listeners typically buildup their own personal libraries of digital songs, which are stored onmemory units such as hard disk drives and removable memory cards.Digital songs are typically acquired through the Internet viasubscription services and peer-to-peer exchanges, or by converting songsfrom a compact disc (CD) into a library.

Digital songs typically include audio data and peripheral data, referredto as meta-data, used to index the songs within the listener's library.For example, within an MP3 file meta-data is accessed through an ID3Tag.By indexing the songs, a listener can search his library and accessindividual songs therein. Typically audio players provide a userinterface through which users view meta-data.

Reference is now made to FIG. 1, which is a prior art illustration of auser interface for a Windows media player, indicating meta-datadisplayed within a window frame 110, and an index for accessingindividual songs, displayed within a window frame 120.

Building up a digital music library requires a lot of work. Typically,the listener first searches the Internet for one or more songs ofinterest, identifies locations of the songs, and downloads them into adatabase associated with a media player. Songs are typically stored asdigital files, formatted in compliance with a standard format, such asMP3 or WMA. Once the songs are downloaded, the listener typically usessoftware such as Windows Media player (WMP) or Winamp to play the songson a computer, or alternatively he uses a hardware device, such as anIpod or MPEG player, to play the songs. WMA files embed meta-data withinthe files, and also within the filenames themselves.

Often individuals spend nights on end downloading their favorite songsand building their own personal music libraries. Downloading music filesfrom the Internet may infringe copyrights, unless the files are obtainedthrough a service that pays royalties to the recording industry.

A shortcoming in the digital music world is the large effort required tobuild custom music libraries. An alternative is to either purchaselibraries that have been prepared by others, but often someone else'slibrary does not match a listener's taste, and he prefers to collect hisown favorite songs.

A popular source for a listener to hear his favorite songs is on musicstations. Cable, satellite broadcast and the Internet provide musicchannels for almost every genre of music—classical music, rock and roll,jazz, music of the 80's, etc. A listener can enjoy music according tohis taste by subscribing to such broadcast services.

Ideally, a listener building up his personal digital music library wouldlike to be able to record his favorite songs from such broadcastservices. However, raw audio recording from a music station does notcontain the meta-data necessary to incorporate such songs into a digitalmusic library. Using today's technology, a listener has no choice but topainstakingly label each such song recorded from a music station withappropriate meta-data—a process that can last hours in order to buildeven a modest library with a few hundred songs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention enables a listener to easily build a digitallibrary of music, which is cataloged and easily accessible for personalplayback. The present invention provides a solution for the tens ofmillions of households in the U.S. and around the world that receive,either through digital cable or over Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS)transmissions, music channels such as Music Choice, DMX and othercommercial free music services. Such music channels are currentlybroadcast as video and audio channels in which the audio feed includes asong being played, and typically the simultaneous video feed hasinformation about the song, its artists, and the label whose song isbeing broadcast.

In a preferred embodiment, a device utilizing the present invention,referred to hereinafter as a “Family Music Center,” is connected to adigital cable box or digital satellite receiver, in the same fashionthat a video cassette recorder (VCR) or personal video recorder (PVR0 isconnected; namely, by connecting the left and right audio and videooutputs of the receiver to the device. Preferably, the Family MusicCenter has the ability to record and to playback by category, much likea PVR. Whereas a PVR relies on data received through an electronicprogram guide to identify what it is recording, and to name the recordedshows, the Family Music Center utilizes information in the video portionof the broadcast to identify what is being recorded.

In a preferred embodiment, the Family Music Center allows a listener torecord in either “record all” mode or “selective mode”. In “record all”mode the listener sets his receiver to a music channel broadcasting agenre of music that he enjoys, and then he presses a record button onthe Family music Center. The Family music Center then records andcategorizes all songs played during the recording period, until thelistener either stops the recording process by pressing stop on theFamily music Center, or changes the channel on his receiver.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the Family musicCenter records each song once, and, if a song is broadcast more thanonce, the Family music Center marks the song as being virtually recordedan additional time, for each time the song is re-broadcast. It may thusbe appreciated that in this fashion the Family music Center builds apersonal digital music library for the listener. Assuming that anaverage song Jasts approximately three minutes and assuming a 25%re-broadcast rate, it may be appreciated that the Family music Centerrecords approximately 360 songs during a typical 24 hour day ofoperation. Thus in approximately a one week period of recording day andnight, the Family Music Center builds a library of over 2,500 songs, ifleft on one specific genre channel. In many cases a listener recordsonly at night when he is asleep, since the recording process requiresthe receiver to be set to a music channel while recording, and if thelistener wants to watch television he will inherently change the viewingchannel from the music channel. Thus in a household with average dailytelevision viewing, a library of over 2,500 songs for a specific genreis built by the Family Music Center within two weeks.

In “selective mode” the Family Music Center is set to record a specificartist or song, and then when that artist or song is broadcast theFamily Music Center records the music. The “selective mode” is mostuseful if the desired song or artist is played frequently on one of thegenre channels. If the desired song or artist is less frequently playedthere is no guarantee that the Family Music Center will record themusic.

Songs recorded on the Family Music Center can be heard in a number ofdifferent fashions. A convenient way to listen to songs on the FamilyMusic Center in a listener's living room is to connect audio out of theFamily Music Center to an amplifier and stereo system, and to connectvideo out to a television. The listener can then choose, either througha front panel interface, or by remote control through a televisioninterface, songs that he would like to listen to. The listener cancreate play lists, or choose to listen to songs in the order they wereplayed by the broadcast music channel.

In addition to listening to the songs on the Family Music Center, in apreferred embodiment of the present invention, the listener can “checkout” a set of songs to a hand-held digital music player, referred to asa “Music Capsule,” which can be plugged into one or more docking portson the Family Music Center. When the listener has finished listening tosongs on his Music capsule, he preferably sets his Music Capsule backinto a cradle on the Family Music Center. in order to check-in songsthat are no longer being listened to on that specific player, and checkout new songs for new listening.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the Family MusicCenter incorporates digital rights management with songs recorded,thereby preventing a listener from freely making unlimited copies of therecorded songs. Preferably, a listener is limited to check out of aspecific song to the total number of times that that song was broadcastto the Family Music Center.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the Family MusicCenter includes a unit having a hard disk for storage of songs, anaudio/video encoding and decoding platform, an on screen displaycomponent, front panel navigation buttons and scroll wheel, an LCDpanel, and various external interfaces including audio/video jacks, USB,Firewire, and power jacks. In addition the main Family Music Center unitpreferably includes four sockets that comprise a docking station forfour Music Capsules. Preferably, the sockets have leads to bothre-charge the Music Capsules and to transfer songs to and from the MusicCapsules. The Family Music Center preferably receives analog audio andvideo from the listener's receiver, and encodes both the audio and videosignal in real-time. The video portion of the signal is analyzed inorder to extract artist name, song name, and label and year from thevideo broadcast, for categorization purposes. The analog audio ispreferably encoded separately from the video.

There is thus provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment of thepresent invention a digital music library builder including ananalog-to-digital converter for converting analog audio into digitalaudio, an optical character processor for recognizing characters withinan image, a meta-data extractor for identifying meta-data for a songwithin the recognized characters, an audio parser for marking the startand end of a song within the digital audio, and a database manager forassociating the identified meta-data with the marked song, within adigital music library.

There is further provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment ofthe present invention a method for building a digital music library,including converting analog audio into digital audio, recognizingcharacters within an image, identifying meta-data for a song within therecognized characters, marking the start and end of a song within thedigital audio, and associating the identified meta-data with the markedsong, within a digital music library.

There is further provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment ofthe present invention a computer readable medium containing executablecomputer program instructions which, when executed on a processingsystem, cause the processing syste to perform a method includingconverting analog audio into digital audio, recognizing characterswithin an image, identifyng meta-data for a song within the recognizedcharacters, marking the start and end of a song within the digitalaudio, and associating the identified meta-data with the marked song,within a digital music library.

There is additionally provided in accordance with a preferred embodimentof the present invention an automatic music library builder including ahousing including a USB port for transferring data to and from acomputer, audio connectors for receiving analog audio, video connectorsfor receiving a video frame, video frame capture circuitry locatedwithin the housing, for capturing a video frame received by the videoconnecters, an analog to digital audio converter located within thehousing, for converting the analog audio to digital audio, an audiodigital signal processor located within the housing, for converting thedigital audio into a digital music format, and a processor locatedwithin the housing, for extracting meta-data for a song from thecaptured video frame.

There is moreover provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment ofthe present invention a digital music library builder including anoptical character processor for recognizing characters within an image,a meta-data extractor for identifying meta-data for a song within therecognized characters, an audio parser for marking the start and end ofa song within a digital audio signal, and a database manager forassociating the identified meta-data with the marked song, within adigital music library.

There is further provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment ofthe present invention a method for building a digital music library,including recognizing characters within an image, identifying meta-datafor a song within the recognized characters, marking the start and endof a song within a digital audio signal, and associating the identifiedmeta-data with the marked song, within a digital music library.

There is yet further provided in accordance with a preferred embodimentof the present invention a computer readable medium containingexecutable computer program instructions which, when executed on aprocessing system, cause the processing system to perform a methodincluding recognizing characters within an image, identifying meta-datafor a song within the recognized characters, marking the start and endof a song within a digital audio signal, and associating the identifiedmeta-data with the marked song, within a digital music library.

There is additionally provided in accordance with a preferred embodimentof the present invention an automatic music library builder including ahousing including audio connectors for reeiving digital audio, videoconnectors for receiving a video frame, video frame capture circuitrylocated within the housing, for capturing a video frame received by thevideo connectors, an audio digital signal processor located within thehousing, for converting the digital audio into a digital music format,and a processor located within the housing, for extracting meta-data fora song from the captured video frame.

There is moreover provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment ofthe present invention an automatic music library builder including ahousing including audio connectors for receiving digital audio, a camerainterface for receiving an image from a camera, an audio digital signalprocessor located within the housing, for converting the digital audiointo a digital music format, and a processor located within the housing,for extracting meta-data for a song from the image.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will be more fully understood and appreciated fromthe following detailed description, taken in conjunction with thedrawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a prior art illustration of a user interface for a Windowsmedia player, indicating meta data and an index for accessing individualsongs displayed;

FIG. 2 is a sample video frame displaying meta-data for a song, forprocessing in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 3 is a simplified block diagram of a digital music library builder,in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a simplified operational flow chart for building a digitalmusic library, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 5 is a simplified perspective view of a Music Capsule, inaccordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 6A-6G are simplified perspective views of a Family Music Center,in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 7 is a simplified block diagram illustrating interconnectivity ofan automatic music library builder with other devices, in accordancewith a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The present invention enables a listener to automatically import songsrecorded from a broadcast music station into his digital music library,along with the songs' meta-data required for indexing his library. Usingthe present invention a listener, with practically no effort, canautomatically build a large digital music library with tens of thousandsof his choice of songs, all properly indexed for search and retrieval.

Moreover, an additional feature of the present invention enables thelistener to select which songs from among those broadcast on the musicstations are to be imported into his library, based on one or more ofgenre, song title, artist, album, length of song, and other criteria.

The present invention concerns a method and system for automaticallybuilding digital music libraries, from music channels broadcast throughcable and satellite stations. In a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention, broadcast songs are recorded into a digital music libraryalong with meta-data necessary for indexing and accessing eachindividual song, and for display while playing the songs. Using thepresent invention, the digital music library generated from thebroadcast music serves as a large library of individual songs, with fullsearch capability.

Reference is now made to FIG. 2, which is a sample video frame 210displaying meta-data for a song, for processing in accordance with apreferred embodiment of the present invention. Video frame 210 isbroadcast by satellite to listeners of the “Music Choice” station. Videoframe 210 is typically displayed on a listener's television while livemusic is being broadcast. As shown in FIG. 2, the listener has selecteda genre for songs of the 80's, and is currently listening to a songentitled “Like a Virgin” by the artist “Madonna,” from an album entitled“Like a Virgin.” The various descriptive data associated with a song isreferred to as “meta-data;” i.e., descriptive data about the digitalaudio data itself.

The present invention provides a system that enables the listener toautomatically digitally record each broadcast song into a digital musiclibrary, and index each song according to genre, song title, artist andalbum title, as described hereinbelow. Additionally, the presentinvention enables the listener to pre-select songs to be automaticallyrecorded, by specifying inter alia a genre, song tile or artist, insteadof recording all of the broadcast songs. The listener need not bepresent while the system of the present invention is in operation. Itmay thus be appreciated that the present invention enables automaticgeneration of large libraries of songs.

Reference is now made to FIG. 3, which is a simplified block diagram ofa digital music library builder, in accordance with a preferredembodiment of the present invention. Shown in FIG. 3 is a broadcaststation 305, broadcasting cable or satellite entertainment to a home310. The broadcast entertainment is received within home 310 by asatellite or cable receiver 315, and played to a home viewer though histelevision 320, or other display device.

In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, theaudio output of television 320 is converted from analog to digital by anA/D converter 325. The converted digital audio is written to a memorybuffer 330. A song extractor 335 analyzes the digital audio and marksthe beginnings and ends of individual songs. Preferably, song extractor335 filters out non-musical portions from the digital audio, such aspure speech. Each such song marked by song extractor 335 is written to adigital music library 340, which is a storage device such as a harddrive, and subsequently flushed from memory buffer 330.

In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, avideo frame grabber 345 captures a video frame being displayed ontelevision 320, such as video frame 210 illustrated in FIG. 2. Anoptical character recognizer 350 extracts characters from the videoframe, such as the characters in video frame 210. A meta-data generator355 identifies meta-data associated with a current song, within theextracted characters, such as a genre, song title, artist name and albumtitle within video frame 210. The meta-data identified by meta-datagenerator 355 is then written to digital music library 340, and linkedto the corresponding song.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the overall processthrough which meta-data is extracted from the video portion of theaudio/video broadcast is as follows. A number of frames are capturedfrom the video broadcast by station 305, preferably between 10 and 20frames per song. The captured frames are processed using imageprocessing algorithms, so as to create a clear image of a desired regionof the screen. The clarified image is cropped according to apre-determined template, so as to specify the location of relevant dataon the screen. Preferably, such template is generated by analyzingscreens from multiple songs, so as to establish a pattern. The resultingcropped image is preferably transformed into a two-tone black and whiteimage. The black and white image is processed through optical characterrecognizer 350 and relevant meta-data is extracted by meta-dataextractor 355.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, extracted meta-datais verified with an internal CD database, such as the Gracenotedatabase, to ensure accuracy.

It may be appreciated by those skilled in the art, as indicated in FIG.3 by use of dashed lines, that the audio signal and video frame may beextracted from cable or satellite receiver 315, instead of fromtelevision 320. Furthermore, when cable or satellite receiver 315includes an optical or coaxial connection for audio out, then digitalaudio can be extracted directly, without the need for A/D converter 325.

In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention,songs broadcast by station 305 can be selectively imported into digitalmusic library 340, filtered according to meta-data. Criteria based onone or more meta-data including inter-alia genre, song title, artistname, album title and length of song, can be used to filter songs to beimported from among all of the broadcast songs. Preferably, a memorybuffer is used to record a song while a determination is being madewhether or not to filter the song.

In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention,songs already included within digital music library 340 are notoverwritten, unless the listener expressly instructs the system tooverwrite.

Reference is now made to FIG. 4, which is a simplified operational flowchart for building a digital music library, in accordance with apreferred embodiment of the present invention. At step 405 an analogaudio signal is received from a television. At step 410 the analogsignal is converted to digital audio, the digital audio being stored ina memory buffer at step 415.

At step 420 the start of a song is determined, and used to triggercapture of a video frame from a television, or from a cable receiver orfrom a satellite receiver, at step 425. At step 430 characterrecognition is applied to recognize characters in the captured videoframe, and at step 435 meta-data is identified from the recognizedcharacters. Preferably, a template for the captured video frame is usedas an aid in steps 430 and 435. For example, a template corresponding tovideo frame 210 from FIG. 2 may indicate an area of the image in whichrelevant meta-data appears. At step 440 the identified meta-data iswritten to a digital music library.

At step 445 the digital audio stored in the memory buffer is analyzed tomark the beginnings and ends of individual songs. At step 450 the end ofa song is determined, which is used to trigger copying the song into thedigital music library and subsequently flushing the memory buffer atstep 455.

At step 460 the corresponding song and meta-data are linked to oneanother, so as to index the songs in the digital music library.

Due to interlacing on the television screen, it may be necessary tocapture more than one video frame at step 425 in order to be able toextract the meta-data for the song being broadcast. Multiple frames canbe averaged in order to enhance the appearance of characters prior torecognition step 430.

Alternatively, to enhance characters prior to recognition step 430, theluminance component of the one or more color video frames can beextracted. Extraction of luminance serves to remove color burst noisethat degrades performance of optical character recognition.

It may be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the steps in FIG.4 may be performed in a different order than as numbered in FIG. 4. Thussteps 405, 410 and 415 for the audio processing may be performed beforeor after or simultaneous with steps 420, 425, 430, 435 and 440 for thevideo processing.

The present invention is preferably embodied in a programmable devicethat can interface with computers, with MP3 players and other digitalmusic players, and with other electronic devices that include MP3players therewithin including inter alia cell phones, PDAs, home networkappliances and Internet appliances. In a first embodiment, the device ofthe present invention interfaces with satellite/cable receiver 315 (FIG.3). In a second embodiment, the device of the present inventioninterfaces with television 320. In a third embodiment, the device of thepresent invention interfaces with various external components via a USBand a Firewire connection.

In both embodiments, the memory storing digital music library 340 can beeither a large hard disk situated within the device itself; or one ormore smaller removable memory units such as compact disks and memorycards; or a combination of hard disk and removable memory. The advantageof a large hard disk is that the listener's music library isconsolidated into a single library that can be searched and accessed inits entirety. The advantage of removable memory units such as compactdisks, is that the listener can insert the disks into portable playerssuch as MP3 players. Assuming that 30 songs on average require 128 MB ofdata and include one hour's worth of listening, a large 512 GB hard diskcan hold a library of approximately 120,000 songs; and a 640 MB compactdisk can hold approximately 150 songs, or about 7½ hours worth oflistening.

In an alternative embodiment, a device embodying the present inventionincludes one or more exchange ports, also referred to as “cradles,”through which one or more hand-held digital music players can beconnected to the device, for loading songs from a digital music librarystored on the device thereto. Such exchange ports may be circular portsinto which hand-held players in the shape of film canisters areinserted. Thus it may be appreciated that hand-held digital musicplayers, referred to as “Music Capsules” may be “charged up” with songswhile they are “plugged into” the device.

Reference is now made to FIG. 5, which is a simplified perspective viewof a Music Capsule, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of thepresent invention. Shown in FIG. 5 is a hand-held Music Capsule 500including a user interface 510 displaying meta-data for a song beingplayed. Music Capsule is loaded with songs from Family Music Center, andhas serves as a player.

A typical usage scenario for a device embodying the present invention,referred to as a Family Music Center, is as follows. A listener sets hiscable or satellite receiver box to a specific radio station, andactivates the device to capture songs from one or more music channels.The Family Music Center automatically creates a digital music libraryand imports the broadcast songs therein. Thereafter, the listener plugsa Music Capsule into the Family Music Center, and loads selected songsfrom the music library onto the Music Capsule. If the Family MusicCenter is connected to the listener's home network, then the listenermay also pipe music from the Family Music Center into speakers invarious rooms.

Reference is now made to FIGS. 6A-6G, which are simplified perspectiveviews of a Family Music Center, in accordance with a preferredembodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6A is a front view of a FamilyMusic Center 600, including a user interface display 605 with buttons610 and scroll wheel 615 for navigation, and including slots for fourMusic Capsules 620. FIGS. 6B, 6C and 6D are side views of Family MusicCenter 600. FIG. 6C shows a side of Family Music Center 600 having slots625 for memory cards. FIG. 6D shows the back of family Music Center 600with a slot 630 for a DC power supply, slots 635 for audio and video in,and slots 640 for audio and video out. FIG. 6E is a view from the rightof Family Music Center 600, indicating a base support 645 for the FamilyMusic Center. FIGS. 6F and 6G are views from the top of Family MusicCenter 600, with and without Music Capsules 620 inserted into slots 650,respectively.

Preferably, Family Music Center 600 includes one or more of thefollowing components:

-   -   1. A USB port, for connecting to a computer;    -   2. An IEEE 1394 port for connecting to various hardware devices;    -   3. Slots for removable memory units, such as MF cards, SD cards,        memory sticks, compact flash cards and PCMCIA cards;    -   4. E2PROM to store programming instructions;    -   5. RAM for capture and processing of digital data;    -   6. Video capture board with memory for storage;    -   7. Audio and video connectors in and out;    -   8. Remote control interface for an infra-red (IR) or        radio-frequency (RF) control unit;    -   9. Analog to digital audio converter;    -   10. Digital signal processor for converting audio to MP3 format;    -   11. Connection to power supply, or battery casing; and    -   12. A display driver for screen display and navigation.

Reference is now made to FIG. 7, which is a simplified block diagramillustrating interconnectivity of an automatic music library builderwith other devices, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of thepresent invention. Shown in FIG. 7 is an automatic music library builder710, receiving audio and video feed from a cable or satellite receiver720, receiving broadcast music channels. Music library builder 710generates an MP3 music database in accordance with a preferredembodiment of the present invention, preferably filtering broadcastsongs according to pre-defined listener settings and preferences.

Preferably, music library builder 710 interconnects with a computer 730and a personal data assistant (PDA) 740. Listener settings andpreferences can be set on computer 730 or PDA 740, and loaded therefromonto music library builder 710. Music library builder 710 can beprogrammed and controlled using computer 730 or PDA 740. Preferably,music library builder can also be controlled using a remote control unit750, using an infra-red (IR) or radio frequency (RF) signal.

After automatic music library builder 710 generates a digital musicdatabase such as an MP3 database, the database can be transferred tocomputer 730 or PDA 740 for playback. Alternatively, the database can betransferred to a portable device 760 with MP3 player capability througha removable memory unit such as a compact disk or memory card.

Preferably automatic music library builder 710 includes a userinterface, albeit a limited user interface, that enables a listener toselect and categorize songs that are automatically imported into hisdigital music library. In an alternative embodiment of the presentinvention, a listener can specify his settings on his computer or PDA,and then load them into the device of the present invention using a USBcable or memory medium.

Preferably, the user interface displays the current song, a yes/noindicator, and the cumulative number of songs already recorded.Preferably, the user interface also enables a user to view an index ofall songs recorded on the current memory unit, and to view an index ofall songs recorded on all memory units.

In an alternate embodiment of the present invention, automatic musiclibrary builder 710 uses a television 770 to display a user interface.Preferably automatic library builder 710 includes a video out connectorthat can be used to connect into television 770. Selections from menuscreens displayed on television 770 are preferably made using a controldevice, such as remote control unit 750, the control device preferablyhaving directional buttons for left-right-up-down and a button forselect.

In an enhanced embodiment, the present invention incorporates digitalrights management. Specifically, meta-data for a song can also includethe number of times the song was played on the broadcast music channel.Such number is preferably used to limit the number of times a listenercan access the song from his music library by another digital musicplayer.

In reading the above description, persons skilled in the art willrealize that there are many apparent variations that can be applied tothe methods and systems described. Thus it may be appreciated that theanalog audio and the video frame containing meta-data may be capturedfrom different sources, instead of from a single television. Meta-datafor broadcast songs may be available, for example, at a broadcaster'sInternet site.

Alternatively, meta-data for broadcast songs may be extracted from avideo or still image camera that photographs a display screen of a radiothat includes meta-data. For example, XM and Sirius satellite radiosdisplay meta-data on their screens. Often broadcasters transmitmeta-data in an encrypted form, and thus use of a camera enablesdetermination of meta-data without the need to decrypt an encrypted datastream.

In an alternate embodiment of the present invention, meta-data may beincluded within a video broadcast, for example, as data within avertical blanking (VB) channel. For such an embodiment, the presentinvention obtains meta-data by extraction from the VB channel.

It may be appreciated that the Music Capsules of the present inventionmay receive digital music from other devices, in addition to the FamilyMusic Center. Thus the Music Capsules may be compatible with kiosks,such as music kiosks located in music distribution stores used forlistening to songs prior to purchase.

In the foregoing specification, the invention has been described withreference to specific exemplary embodiments thereof. It will, however,be evident that various modifications and changes may be made to thespecific exemplary embodiments without departing from the broader spiritand scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.Accordingly, the specification and drawings are to be regarded in anillustrative rather than a restrictive sense.

1. A digital music library builder comprising: an analog-to-digitalconverter for converting analog audio into digital audio; an opticalcharacter processor for recognizing characters within an image; ameta-data extractor for identifying meta-data for a song within therecognized characters; an audio parser for marking the start and end ofa song within the digital audio; and a database manager for associatingthe identified meta-data with the marked song, within a digital musiclibrary.
 2. The digital music library builder of claim 1 furthercomprising a digital audio writer for writing the marked song from amemory buffer into the digital music library.
 3. The digital musiclibrary builder of claim 1 further comprising a meta-data writer forwriting the identified meta-data into the digital music library.
 4. Thedigital music library builder of claim 1 wherein said optical characterprocessor recognizes characters with the aid of a template describingthe general layout of the image.
 5. The digital music library builder ofclaim 1 wherein the digital music library is structured as a filesystem.
 6. The digital music library builder of claim 1 wherein thedigital music library is structured as a database.
 7. The digital musiclibrary builder of claim 6 wherein the digital music library is an MP3database.
 8. The digital music library builder of claim 6 wherein thedigital music library comprises WMA files.
 9. The digital music librarybuilder of claim 1 wherein the digital music library resides in aremovable memory unit.
 10. The digital music library builder of claim 1wherein the digital music library resides in a hard disk drive.
 11. Thedigital music library builder of claim 1 wherein the meta-data includesa song title.
 12. The digital music library builder of claim 1 whereinthe meta-data includes an artist.
 13. The digital music library builderof claim 1 wherein the meta-data includes a genre.
 14. The digital musiclibrary builder of claim 1 wherein the meta-data includes an album. 15.The digital music library builder of claim 1 wherein the meta-dataincludes a song length.
 16. The digital music library builder of claim 1wherein the meta-data includes a date.
 17. The digital music librarybuilder of claim 1 wherein the meta-data includes a number ofrepetitions of a song within the analog audio.
 18. The digital musiclibrary builder of claim 17 further comprising a digital rights managerfor restricting access to the song, based on the number of repetitionsof the song within the analog audio.
 19. The digital music librarybuilder of claim 1 further comprising a controller for selectivelyimporting audio having pre-defined characteristics into the digitalmusic library.
 20. The digital music library builder of claim 19 whereinthe pre-defined characteristics depend upon meta-data. 21-91. (canceled)